Corporate professionals by day and farmers by evening and weekend. The trials and joys of balancing work, family, gardening and raising animals in Clark County, WA.

August 22, 2010

Clark County Fair

I love the fair. Ever since I was a little girl, walking through all the animals, eating corn on the cob on a stick, riding the rides was a highlight of the summer. I still get excited to go the fair. Plus, now we take Jordan and get to watch her experience all the things I enjoyed. This year she particularly loves the goats.

Goats are very friendly, social animals. When we first bought the farm, we thought about getting goats. Then, at the fair that year, I chatted with a rancher about the pros and cons of goats. Turns out that they like to eat tree bark, especially Douglas Fir tree bark. They will eat the tree bark before they eat the grass - it's just that yummy. Well, we have lots of Doug Firs on our property and since I'd like to keep the trees (and not have to wrap each one in protective fencing) we decided goats wouldn't be the animal for us. Hence the sheep.

But Jordan was just lovin' the goats at the fair. They'd stick their heads through the fence and she'd sit and love on them. It took twice as long to get through the goat barn as all the other barns combined and she kept asking to go back to the goats. So finally I asked her if she'd like to join 4-H and work with goats. I got a resounding "YES" with a twinkle in her eye.

My mom was involved in 4-H has a child and has really found memories of the club and being part of the fair in a more official capacity. 4-H also taught my mom about presenting in front of a crowd. I've also heard this from other parents who's children are in 4-H, they learn how to stand in front of people, give a clear presentation and get judge on it. Considering most adults are afraid of public speaking, this could be a great skill for Jordan to learn early in life.

So on top of working a 9-5 job, commuting, running the farm, homework and swimming lessons, it looks like we're going to add 4-H to the mix this fall. That is a whole lot of activities. It's no wonder we never go anywhere on the weekends.